Mine car



septa 1936- v w. H. STATLER MINE CAR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Original Filed Jan. 6, 1932 pb 1936@ w; H. STATLER v 2,053,922

MINE CAR Original Filed Jan. 6, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 8, 1936 UNITED STATES MINE CAR Walter H. Statler, Bethlehem Steel Pennsylvania Johnstown, Pa,, assignor to Company, a corporation of Original application January 6, 1932, Serial No. 585,015. Divided and this application'May 22, 1934, 'Serial No. 726,907

. Claims.

My invention relates to the construction of mine cars and more especially to that type of mine car which is equipped with a swinging end gate that is automatically latched when closed '5 and which is adapted to be automatically tripped to open for the purpose of releasing the car loading as it arrives at the unloading bins or chutes. This application is a division of my co-pending application filed January 6, 1932, Serial No.

An object of my invention is to providemeans in combination with an end-gate latching mechanism which first automatically engages the latch operating means provided at the unloading bins or chutes for the purpose of unlatching the end.- gate, and thereafter automatically disengages the latch operating means as the car assumes its unloading position. 1

Other objects of my invention relate to certain 0 novel features of construction, combination, and arrangement of parts which willbe hereinafter more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying two sheets of drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a mine car embodying my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same car;

Fig. 3 is a part horizontal section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a part vertical section taken along the line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings the numeral l0 indicates the mine car in which is embodied my improvements,

535 and in Fig. 1 the mine car I 9 is shown in position at the automatic unloading point of the tipple. The automatic unloading means is not a part of my invention and any arrangement would be suitable which would comprise a car tilting device such as the tilting platform I I, and a latch operating mechanism such as the biased lever device I 2, shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1.

The car It comprises the car sides I3 attached to which on the inside of the front upper corners are the shaft support brackets M. The brackets l4 extend above the top edge of the sides I3 and are adapted to receive the shouldered and threaded ends l5 of the shaft IS. The shaft I6 is secured in the brackets M by the cottered nuts l1, and by reason of the shouldered engagement, the shaft It acts to maintain the upper front corners of the sides l3 in rigid spaced relation.

The front end of the car I 0 is closed by a 5 swinging end or door l8. The door l8 comprises -I3 at the lower front corners.

a steel plate l9 having its upper edge bent or rolled over to the outside to form a tubular top edge 23 with the edge 2| bent flat against the outside of the door plate I9 and riveted thereto, while its lower edge is similarly bent but in an '5 opposed direction. Riveted on the inside face of the plate is at the top are the hinges 22 which in turn are pivotally mounted upon the shaft l6. Collars 23 functionally integral with the shaft [6 engage opposed faces of the outer pair of hinges 10 22, thus positioning the door IS in relation to the sides of .themine car Ill. For stiffening purposes angle bars 24 at the ends and a pressed steel recessed plate or stake 25 at the vertical center are riveted to the inside face of the plate 515 I9. For latching the door It, the keeper plates 26 are riveted to the outside. of the mine car sides On the front face of the plate H! at the lower corners are riveted the latch guides 21which guide the outer ends 20 of the substantially horizontal latches 28 while their inner ends are pivotally attached to a vertical latch slide bar 29 by suitable means 30. The latch slide bar 29 is slidably mounted in the guides 3| and 32 riveted to the outside face of 525 the plate I9 on the vertical center. The upper end 33 of the latch slide bar 29 is bent outward for a purpose to be hereinafter described. Also riveted on the outside face of the plate I 9 on either side of the-vertical center and just above '30 the guide 3| are the cam brackets 34 having the upward and outward sloping edges 35, the purposes of which will hereinafter be described.

Having thus described the structure of my mine car I. will now describe its operation upon its 35 assumed arrival at the tipple loaded and ready to be unloaded. The car ID as loaded is run onto a car tilting device I l at the unloading point which may, in the tilting platform type shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1, include stops 36 for the car 4 wheels 31. As the car wheels 31 engage the stops 36 the arrested momentum of the loaded car tends to tilt the car I0 and the platform 38 forward about the pivot point 39 until they come to rest at a suitable unloading angle by engaging a stop not 45 shown. At the instant the car wheels 3! engage the stops 36 the upper end 33 of the latch slide bar 29 comes into engagement on its under side with the suitably adapted end 40 of the biased lever device I 2 (shown diagrammatically) pivot- 50 ally mounted to the structure 4| of the tipple. The action of the biased lever device I2 in engagement with the latch slide bar 29 is such that as the car I 0 tilts forward about the platform tilting point 39 the latch slide bar 29 is raised, relatively to its initial position on the front door l8, which action results in withdrawal of the latches 28 from engagement with the keeper plates 26. As the latches 28 disengage, the weight of the coal against the swinging door l8 causes the latter to swing outward and thus give ready exit to the unloading coal. As the car l0 continues to tilt downward in its unloading operation after the latches 28 are disengaged and the door 18 has swung open, it is desirable that the biased lever device 12 having done its work to be disengaged. This is brought about by the outward sloping edges 35 of the cam brackets 34 engaging the end 40 of the biased lever l2 and gradually disengaging the latter from the latch slide bar end 33. When the point of disengagement is reached as shown in dotted lines in Fig. l the latch slide bar 29 drops due to the action of gravity to its initial position shown in Fig. 2. This also returns the latches 28 to their initial position. When the car is unloaded and is returned to a horizontal position, the door I8 tends, due to the action of gravity, to return to its closed position, and this return movement brings the outer ends of the latches 28 into engagement with the sloping edges 42 of the keeper plates 26. Since the latches 28 are pivotally attached to the latch slide bar 29 at 30 they are free to rise along the slopes 42 in the guides 21 until the door I8 becomes closed, when the latches 28 then drop into latched engagement with the keeper plates 26 as shown in Fig. l. The car I0 is then again ready to be loaded.

Although I have described and illustrated my invention in considerable detail, I do not wish to be limited to the exact and specific details thereof, as shown and described, but may use such modifications in, substitutions for, or equivalents thereof, as are embraced within the scope of my invention or as pointed out in the claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with apparatus for automatically releasing an end-gate and for tilting a car to unload, a front end dump mine car comprising car body side walls, brackets fixed to upper front outside corners of said side walls, keeper plates fixed to lower front outside corners of said side walls, a front end-gate pivotally attached to said brackets, a latch device operably mounted on said end-gate adapted to engage said keeper plates to hold said end-gate closed when the car is in a normal loaded position and to automatically engage said releasing apparatus when the car is tilted forward to unload, and a cam device fixed to said end-gate to automatically disengage the releasing apparatus when the car is in the unloading position, and said end-gate so pivotally attached to said brackets that gravity returns the end-grate to a latched condition upon returning the car to the loading position.

2. In combination with apparatus for automatically releasing an end-gate and for tilting a car to unload, an end dump mine car comprising car body side walls, and end-gate hinged to said side walls, a latch for locking said end-gate closed when in a normal operating position including means adapted to engage said releasing apparatus when the car is first tilted to unload, and cam means functionally integral with said end-gate for automatically disengaging the releasing apparatus upon continued tilting to unload.

3. In combination with apparatus for automatically releasing an end-gate and for tilting a car to unload, an end dump mine car comprising car body side walls, an end-gate hinged to said side walls, end-gate latching means adapted to engage said releasing apparatus when the car is tilted to unload, and cam means functionally integral with said end-gate for disengaging the said releasing apparatus upon the car assuming its unloaded position.

4. In combination with apparatus for automatically releasing an end-gate and for tilting a car to unload, an end dump mine car comprising car body side walls, hinge means and latch keeper means fixed to said side Walls, an end-gate attached to said hinge means, a latch device operably mounted on said end-gate adapted to engage said keeper means in normal loaded position of the car and to automatically engage said releasing apparatus when thecar is tilted to unload, and means to automatically disengage the said releasing apparatus when the car is in the unloading position.

5. In a mine car structure, the combination or" car body side walls, an end-gate hinged to said side walls, keepers fixed to said side walls, latch guides and latch slide guides fixed to said endgate, a latch slide vertically slidably mounted in said latch slide guides, substantially horizontal latches adapted to engage said keepers at their outer ends and to have translational movement co-planar with the end-gate in the said latch guides, and to be pivotally attached to the said latch slide, the said latch slide having a projecting portion adapted for operable engagement for the purpose of lifting said latches, and cams mounted on said end-gate in juxtaposition to said projecting portion whereby operable engagement with the projecting portion is broken when the latch slide is fully lifted.

WALTER H. STA'ILER. 

